The Kennedy family of Oakboro, N.C., knows that much of its company's reputation depends on their ability to deliver pipe products where and when they say they will. “You do one thing and do it very well,” explains Scott Kennedy, vice president, Concrete Pipe, Inc. “Don't make a promise you can't keep. There really isn't much of a difference between the product you make and the one your competition makes. What it boils down to is service. If you tell a customer you'll be somewhere by a certain time, you better be there.”

This dependable work ethic has kept the family-owned business successful since its beginnings in 1963, when Bennett Kennedy and his wife Irene (Scott's parents) started a plumbing contractor business in their hometown. They soon began to install septic tanks as well, and eventually decided to cast the tanks for themselves. The family initially entered the pipe business when five used Quinn wet-cast forms were purchased. In 1980, the septic tank business was sold, and wet-cast pipe became the featured product line. Scott joined the company in 1985, after completing service in the Army.

Growth over the years has been the result of careful planning and extensive research, ranging from where buildings and equipment should be located to optimum production flow. In 1990, the company moved to its present 10½-acre site in Oakboro (about 40 minutes from Charlotte), and a used dry-cast machine was installed to produce of 12- to 42-in.-diameter pipe By 1996, the company had determined that more pipe was needed to meet market demand, and a 24-in. BiDi machine was purchased from Besser and began operating in 1997. A horizontal flared end form equipment line was added in 1998, and a second BiDi — a 60-in. model — joined the first in 2002.

“The new machines have meant increased productivity above all else,” says Scott Kennedy. “We doubled our production output in half the time when compared with the dry-cast machine we used to run. Now, we have reduced our manhours, and our pipe quality is excellent.”

Both BiDi machines incorporate Vision Automation for complete computer control of machine operation. The units also feature bell packer assemblies with vertical impact hydraulic vibration for maximum concrete compaction during the bell-making cycle.

Concrete Pipe uses the smaller machine to manufacture 12- to 24-in. tongue and groove pipe in 4- and 8-ft. lengths. The 60-in. machine currently covers sizes 24 to 48 in. in 4- and 8-ft. lengths. A pan mixer feeds the big BiDi, and reinforcing cages for both machines are produced on a KN cage machine. Pipe is tabbed for storm drain use within a 100-mile radius of Oakboro. “In the two years since this new machine has been in place, our business is wide open. We're keeping about six months of backlog right now,” says Kennedy. “We're mostly supplying new housing developments and highway construction. We've done several legs of I-485, which is the loop around Charlotte. We're also working on a highway widening project. It will be the first four-lane road in Stanly County, Highway 24/27, running from Charlotte east toward Fayetteville. Right now, we're four legs into that with one more to go.”

Kennedy explains that, although Concrete Pipe has not experimented with anything other than cement in their mix design, the company typically uses a bit of high-range water reducers in its products. “The chemicals make the machine run better and make a tighter and stronger product,” he explains. “We were probably one of the first — if not the first — to start using such admixture in our pipe.”

A line of wet-cast horizontal flared end form equipment in 12- to 36-in. sizes (also from Besser) also contributes to overall plant output. A fleet of six company-owned trucks deliver most of the product.

Dependable equipment is fundamental to Concrete Pipe's success, as are many other aspects of the operation. “Mix design is critical to the quality and performance of the end product,” Kennedy affirms. “So are parts. We like to inventory certain spare and wear parts for immediate replacement use. Our procedure is to re-order the item when we pull it off the shelf. That way, we don't lose a day or more of production waiting for something.

“We drew on the knowledge and experience of others. Our goal was to design a complete facility that offered a good view of the entire production area when a person walked in the plant door.”

Kennedy says it's probably too soon to worry about competitive issues from the plastic pipe industry, but that day is coming. “We're seeing a little bit now, but it's not a full-blown matter yet,” he says. “The matter of testing methods with plastic versus concrete has come up. Right now, a lot of engineers aren't requesting plastic because they don't trust it. It's not even an spec option on many housing or highway construction projects.”

If plastic ever does become an issue, Kennedy knows that his “big boy” competitors — like Rinker and Oldcastle — are better suited to counter the claims of plastic pipe producers. Even without the plastic product concern, how does Concrete Pipe stay competitive against these multinational companies? “I had a customer five or six years ago who one of the other pipe companies had promised a couple loads one morning,” relays Kennedy. “They called him that morning and told him the order wouldn't be ready until the middle of the following week. He already had two crews on the job. He calls me and wants to know if I can get product to the site, and I told him I'd have it there by 1 o'clock that day. When I did that, he said, ‘Give me your fax number; I'm going to send you the rest of my business for the rest of the year.’ Needless to say, that pretty much made our year.”

“A few years after that,” he continues, “we were off about $2,500 from that same competitor's prices on a job. This same customer was getting a lot of pressure to go with the lower price. I said to him, ‘Do you remember why you stopped giving that company your business?’ He didn't, so I put it to him like this: ‘Let's say you have $1 million to $2 million mobilized on this project. You've got two pipe crews on the job ready to go Monday morning. Then this other company calls you and says they can't get you the pipe until Tuesday morning. Where's your $2,500 then?’ The customer said, ‘I'll call you back.’ About 10 minutes later, he called back and said that I'd made a good point and here comes the purchase order. You make a quality product and stand by it 100 percent. Do what you say, say what you do.”

This article was prepared with information supplied by Besser Co.